Transitions: Photographs by Robert Creamer

October 2006 through June 2007

Fairchild Jade, 2005

Robert Creamer has a deep respect for change—its
subtle palette and patterns, the surprising structure of decay, and
the integrity that graces every stage of life. In a Creamer photograph
a browning petal becomes as glorious as the newly opened bloom. The
numbered museum specimen lives on as a remnant of history.

An exhibit of 39 photographs will be on view through June 2007 in the 2nd Floor, Special Exhibits Gallery, at the National Museum of
Natural History. A video describing Creamer’s process accompanies the exhibit. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service will travel the exhibit from 2008–2010.

In 2005, Bob Creamer scanned a variety of objects and specimens at
the Naturalist
Center, an educational outreach facility of the National Museum
of Natural History located near Leesburg, Virginia. That experience
led to scans of the scientific collections housed at the National Museum
of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

This pair of images shows how Creamer patiently watches botanical specimens that he has collected, observing how the flower
changes as it decays.